Woohyun stood under the shower a few moments longer, letting the warm water splash against his face before he finally turned the water off.  As he did so, he heard the sound of the rain outside, splashing against the windows.  He stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel on the rack.  In the midst of drying himself, he heard the front door open.  He quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom.

"Dad."  Woohyun sounded concerned when he saw his father, looking like he had been caught out in the rain.

"It's pouring out there," his father said glancing to look at Woohyun.  A frown appeared on the man's face when he saw Woohyun with hair still dripping with water and only a towel wrapped around his waist.  "Go dry your hair and put some clothes on or you'll catch a cold."

Woohyun pouted.  "I'm not such a weakling."

Despite his words, Woohyun disappeared into his bedroom to put on some clothes.  He emerged moments later and found his father in the kitchen about to chop up some vegetables.  He noticed that the man was still wearing his clothes which were drenched from the rain.

"Dad, I can do that," Woohyun offered.  "You should go take a shower before you catch a cold."

"I'll do that after dinner," his father argued.

"I grabbed a bite with the guys after school so it's fine," Woohyun insisted.  "Dinner can wait."

His father finally gave up.  Woohyun watched as the man headed for the bathroom and closed the door behind him.  Woohyun waited for a few seconds.  As expected, he heard the click of a lock.  His father had a habit of always locking the bathroom door, despite the fact that they were the only ones living in the house.


In the middle of the night, his father was awoken by the sound of thunder roaring amidst the rain.  The man saw the flash of lightning and immediately got out of bed.  He walked over to Woohyun's bedroom and gently knocked on the door before opening it.

Another flash of lightning lit up the dark room long enough for the man to see Woohyun huddled in the furthest corner of his bed with knees pulled up to his chest and hands covering his ears.  His eyes were shut and his face was twisted with pain.  Seeing Woohyun in such a sight, his father immediately rushed over to the bed.

"Woohyun,"his father called out as he pulled the boy into his embrace.

Thunder roared again and another flash of lightning had Woohyun clinging onto his father.  Feeling the boy's trembling body, his father pulled him close and held him tight. 

"It's okay," he reassured the boy.  "I'm here."

Woohyun closed his eyes and buried his face in his father's chest.  "Please make it stop."

His father sighed.  If only he could.

They remained like that until Woohyun became exhausted and drifted off to sleep.  Despite this, Woohyun still gripped tightly to his father's shirt.  Not wanting to wake Woohyun, his father had no choice but to lay back down on the bed with Woohyun clinging to him.  He pulled the covers over the both of them and remained beside Woohyun, keeping watch over the boy while he slept.